How is Wi-Fi Strength Measured?

Wi-Fi Strength (RSSI) is measured in dBm, an indication of how strong the Wi-Fi’s radio waves are when received by the camera. This measure goes from -100 to 0, with -100 being the worst. 

What is Your Recommended Wi-Fi Strength?

We generally recommend dBm greater than -55 in order to ensure the best camera streaming and recording experience. Greater than -70 is acceptable, but may result in poor video experience. Anything below -70 dBm will result in severely degraded experience.

How Reliable is This Measurement?

There is no perfect measurement of Wi-Fi strength. We’ve found that sometimes customers who have strength measurements below our recommendations have perfectly fine camera experiences, while other customers who have strength measurements above our recommendations have degraded camera experiences. Nevertheless, the vast majority of customers should have experiences in line with our guidelines.

Causes of Weak Wi-Fi Strength

Wi-Fi signal strength is the quality of the communication between your camera and your router. Think of Wi-Fi signal strength as how well two people can hear each other talking. Some causes of weak signal strength are:

• Obstructions between the router and the device (trying to talk through doors and walls)

• Interference from other electronic devices which generate electronic signals (trying to talk in a room where others are also talking)

• Distance between the router and the device (trying to talk while far away)

• Multiple devices streaming to your router (trying to listen to multiple people at once)

• An outdated router (not understanding the latest lingo)

Indications of Weak Wi-Fi Signal Strength

• Degraded video or audio quality

• Motion notifications may be delayed or may not come through at all

• Recorded videos may have gaps

• Live View may not connect or may disconnect during streaming

For more details on improving Wi-Fi strength, see the How to Improve Wi-Fi Signal Strength article.